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Why does my dog growl and snap when I feed him? Food aggression help!

Updated on September 23rd, 2025

Pet's info: Dog | Mixed Breed | Male | neutered

So I adobted Petey, he dose have one behavior issue. Any time I go to feed him he growls and comes close to snapping at me. Everything other than that he is a wonderful dog to be around and very protective. What steps do I take when feeding him?

2 Answers

Most Helpful Answer

Jennifer Summerfield, DVM CPDT-KA

Answered By Jennifer Summerfield, DVM CPDT-KA

Veterinarian, Certified Dog Trainer

Published on February 24th, 2018

Hi there! I'm sorry to hear that you're having this problem with Petey. Many dogs get anxious and may show some resource guarding aggression around feeding time, especially if they've had to fight to defend their food in the past - we often don't know much about a rescue dog's history, so it's hard to say what is driving this behavior in Petey's case.

It's hard to give you specific advice without more details about your normal feeding routine, including what specifically tends to trigger this behavior from Petey. In general, the best thing to do for resource guarding issues is to try and avoid making the dog feel threatened, and leave him alone to eat in peace. So for example, you might use a baby gate to keep Petey out of the kitchen while you're getting his dinner ready, place his bowl on the floor, and then remove the gate to let him go in and eat. I would leave him alone while he's eating, and go in and put the empty bowl away once he's completely finished and has walked away.

If you want to work on this problem further, to eventually try and get him more comfortable with having you around while he eats, it would be best to get in touch with a veterinary behaviorist who can evaluate him in person and help you put together a detailed training plan. You can search for one in your area here: www.dacvb.org. I also highly recommend the book "Mine!" by Jean Donaldson, for detailed guidelines and training protocols for dogs with resource guarding issues to help get you started.
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Related Answers from Veterinarians

  • Answered By Jennifer Summerfield, DVM CPDT-KA

    Veterinarian, Certified Dog Trainer

    Published on May 9th, 2017

    Resource guarding (growling or biting if approached while eating) is a very common and even normal behavior in dogs - they have an instinctive desire to protect their food, and many dogs will react this way if they are disturbed while they are eating. The simplest solution in most cases is simply to feed your dog in a separate room with the door closed, and leave him alone while he is eating.

    If you are interested in trying to work on the problem, I would recommend reading the book "Mine!" by Jean Donaldson - it has very detailed instructions for how to work on this behavior. Essentially, you need to teach your dog to associate good things with having you near his food bowl. This can be done by tossing or dropping very tasty treats to him from a distance, and gradually getting closer over time as long as he's comfortable.

    Since Snoopy is already growling and attempting to bite, I would strongly recommend working with a veterinary behaviorist or a good reward-based trainer who can help you in person if you want to tackle this problem, as it can be very risky to try this on your own. Whatever else you do, please don't punish Snoopy for this behavior in any way, as this is likely to make things worse over time and will greatly increase the risk of a bite.

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    1Pet Parents found this answer helpful

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